Comments by downtownres

The narrow-mindedness of eyewitness' response boggles the mind. Clearly you didn't come to Kids Day, Dec 19, where the MCA gave out 25 bicycles to kids, and the Eyeglass Factory provided free eyecare, diabetes screenings, and eyeglasses. You weren't there Dec 16th, when an ex-gang member who is helping the neighborhood, in partnership with the MCA, who recruited him, spoke at our community meeting. Yeah, the Indy declined to do that story. Noozhawk did it, and did it well. You weren't there Dec 8th when Milpas got its first ever Christmas tree. You weren't there in October when we cleaned the streets, and did landscaping in the area. At that same clean-up, businesses like Los Agaves, El Bahio, and so many others donated food, and it fed EVERYONE - even homeless people in the park who promised to participate next time. Amazing how you can look at this organization, and the events we've done (which you clearly never came to) and conclude it's 'white caucasian European descended people with only a facade of participation by others...reading extremist material...etc.' Feels to me like you've totally misunderstood the concept of revitalizing a neighborhood, and that further, the one reading the extremist material around here is...you.

What kind of talking line is that, Pritchett? Seems this position, taken to its logical conclusion reads:A neighborhood with problems cannot undertake any solutions like a neighborhood watch or community clean-ups that might cause the problems to move to a different neighborhood.The fact that problems were zoned into the neighborhood in the first place is somehow NOT a problem? The neighborhood should, what, shut up and bear it because previous councils thought their neighborhood SHOULD have the problem?Given the make-up of the Milpas community as majority Hispanic, isn't that a tad racist?Don McDermott, you are seeing conspiracy theories where there are none.

When did standing up for your neighborhood, for wanting it to be a better place than it is, for actively working to make it so... suddenly become a 'continued coup orchestrated by nefarious right wing activists'? Is that why we never see you at our community meetings or clean-ups, Don? Because those of us picking up brooms and cleaning off graffiti, those of us patrolling our streets, working with youth, and trying to make the neighborhood safe are suddenly all right-wing Republicans? Wow, I thought working together to make things better was a liberal idea. We've got a lot of liberals on our team. Guess we'll have to tell them they are all now Republicans.You're making this a partisan problem, and it isn't. It's a community issue, and people of all stripes are coming together to fix it. You can be part of the solution, or you can paint us all (incorrectly) as right-wingers, and snark at the sidelines while we get it done.And, Pedro Nava didn't get it wrong and conflate gangs with homeless. You did, Don, led on by the Poodle, who also got it wrong.

Love it when white people rush to defend the use of a racial pejorative in their zeal to call out other people's (non-existent) prejudice. Clearly you don't have black friends or you'd know black is not pejorative, if you're an insider in the black community. SA1 didn't say anything racial at all. You did. "God forbid a Mexican, European, Negro or White Trash be sitting nearby." The racist here is you.

Ouch, Don, dating yourself there, aren't you? Negro is considered pejorative, and has been out of common accepted parlance since the 60's. The only exception is older blacks who still self-identify with the term, and its use by white racists. Black or African-American is the accepted term, especially for those who think themselves progressive...and you seem to be staking out yourself as one.

I don't get this push to bring in high-density housing. It's not like there are great grocery stores downtown so one can easily get by without a car. It's not like there are companies out there beating on the city's door, begging to relocate here...if only we had affordable housing for all their workers. It's not like Latinos who live downtown are going to live in smaller units where there's no ability to have a car. There aren't big employers here (except for the city) demanding more workforce housing. Families who've bought homes in other areas and commute in aren't going to jettison those homes to live in tiny units with no parking. It's not realistic. School bus service is not very good in this city. Families with children often have to drive the kids to school. Downtown housing won't work for them. So who is all the affordable housing for? The rumor is that it's for the newly arrived homeless, who will be grateful that housing was built for them, and keep voting in people who support it. Francisco is right to push back - no real demand has been established that justifies all this high-density building.

I am not happy to see Nava go at all. He's an effective legislator and a great leader in this community. He's been totally supportive of the Milpas Community Association, and we appreciate that. He led us to explore alternatives for gang intervention in that area, and we're hopeful these will bear fruit. City leaders have been quiet on some of the urban issues that plague this city, and Nava stepped in, at citizens' requests, bringing focus and strength. Not many of us love our local electeds, but this is one I am proud to know, and a lot of people on the other side of Nava on the political spectrum have come to view him with respect. He's willing to cross aisles to get things done. People talk about doing it, but how often do you really see that in action? I hope to see him in action again as state senator, or other higher office.

This is a very disingenuous approach. Rather like saying, well because people aren't storming Congress, we can safely conclude that people have no problem with the way the government is running things! The last election proved that little meme completely wrong. People have other ways of expressing their disgust than just posting online. They don't come back. They warn their friends to stay away. They complain to the hotel directly, and that never makes it online. What this article is really up to is discrediting anyone who dares to complain about the vagrancy situation being out of control. Nice try, but no one's falling for it.

Snarky as usual, Pritchett. For citti, there are residents on the board of the MCA, and they are very active in the group. We will do a large community forum within the next month to get the neighborhood watch going, launch a large community event, and talk through other things the neighbors have expressed interest in. If you want to be part of it (instead of sniping anonymously on the Independent) drop a line to info@mcasb.org. We'll make sure to include you.